Unit 3 Organs of speech and Description of consonants

Unit Aims

  • Explain how speech sounds are produced

  • Differentiate between consonants and vowels

  • Describe the manner of consonants' production

  • Explain the place of consonants' production

  • Provide training in sound recognition and phonetic transcription

  • Introduce key terms used in describing consonants

Phonetics

  • Definition: Study and description of human speech sounds

  • Origin: From the Greek word "phone" meaning sound or voice

  • Focus: Articulatory phonetics - how speech sounds are produced in the mouth and throat

  • Branches of phonetics:

    • Articulatory Phonetics: Focus on sound formation

    • Acoustic Phonetics: Study of sound waves

    • Auditory Phonetics: Concerned with how sounds are perceived

Consonants vs. Vowels

  • Consonants:

    • Produced by blocking airflow to varying degrees (e.g., closing lips/touching teeth)

    • Examples: /b/, /t/, /d/

  • Vowels:

    • Produced with open airflow through the mouth

    • No obstruction by tongue, teeth, or lips

Description of Consonant Sounds

  • Voicing: Indicates vocal fold vibration

  • Place of Articulation: Location in the vocal tract where airflow is constricted

  • Manner of Articulation: The type of constriction—narrowing or blockage of airflow

Places of Articulation

  • Voiced Bilabial Stop: /b/

  • Voiced Alveolar Stop: /d/

  • Voiced Velar Stop: /g/

  • Voiceless Dental Fricative: /θ/

  • Alveolar Ridge: Produces sounds like /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/

  • Nasal Sounds: Produced when airflow passes through the nasal cavity, e.g., /m/, /n/

Manner of Articulation

  • Plosives (Stops): Airflow is momentarily stopped and then released, e.g., /p/, /b/, /t/

  • Fricatives: Air moves through a narrow opening causing friction, e.g., /f/, /v/, /s/

  • Affricates: Starts as a plosive and releases as a fricative, e.g., /ʧ/, /ʤ/

  • Approximants: Smooth airflow without friction, e.g., /j/, /w/

  • Nasals: Soft palate lowered allowing airflow through the nasal passage, e.g., /m/, /n/

Organs of Speech

  • Air Production: Air flows from the lungs through the windpipe to the mouth/nose

  • Key Articulators:

    • Larynx

    • Vocal cords

    • Pharynx

    • Oral cavity (including tongue and palate)

    • Lips

Active and Passive Articulators

  • Active Articulators: Move towards passive articulators (e.g., tongue towards the roof of the mouth)

  • Passive Articulators: Remain stationary (e.g., the roof of the mouth)

Minimal Pairs

  • Pairs of words differing by one phoneme

    • Example: rat vs. cat vs. fat vs. hat

  • Used for illustrating phonemic differences/breakdowns in sound recognition

Various Consonant Sounds by Articulation

Plosives

  • /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/

Fricatives

  • /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/

Affricates

  • /ʧ/, /ʤ/

Nasals

  • /m/, /n/, /ŋ/

Approximants

  • /l/, /r/, /w/, /j/

Additional Phonetic Exercises

  • Identify phonetic sounds in various activities

  • Complete examples and exercises from sources mentioned in the PDF

Homework

  • Practice additional exercises provided in appendix 2.